Wed May 17 01:00:00 EAT 2017

It’s Black, Yellow, Red

For God and My Country. Cricket Cranes’ players pose in their new national kit. The new set of equipment cost about Shs72 million. PHOTO BY EDDIE CHICCO

By Darren Allan Kyeyune

In Summary

Cricket. Cranes shift from a predominantly yellow jersey to a black, yellow and red kit to incorporate all national colours according to team coordinator Jeremy Kibuukamusoke.

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KAMPALA. For long, the national men’s cricket team has donned a yellow kit for international engagements. But for the first time in nearly two decades, the Cricket Cranes will don new colours in front of their home crowd when the ICC World Cricket League Division Three showpiece bowls off in six days’ time. Unlike before, it will be black, yellow and red jerseys for coach Steve Tikolo’s charges during the six-nation tournament from May 23-31. Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) and sponsors Mehta Group announced the development worth about $20,000 (Shs72m) yesterday at Lugogo Oval, the venue where Uganda will start their quest against 2011 World Cup finalists Canada on Tuesday. “We have undoubted support for the Cricket Cranes,” said Mehta Group’s Parimal Bhattacharya whose company offered Shs45m to cater for the team’s allowances and UCA logistics on Saturday.“We are grateful and we thank Mehta Group for this contribution,” UCA Chairman Bashir ‘Badu’ Ansasiira said in front of several journalists.Shortly after, the kit was unveiled in a unique style with event emcee Innocent Ndawula calling out one player at a time. The players ran out of the dressing room donning the well knitted - with the sponsors name in yellow and red stripes running across the front - and posed for photos. The player’s name, jersey number and country are printed in bold at the back.

Once all were done from the dressing room, they posed for pictures in clusters and later as a group with bats and tournament correx boards. “As you know, we sponsor the Kolkata Knight Riders in the India Premier League (IPL) and they doing well,” Bhattacharya urged the players. “So we want you to do equally well next week.” “This is the first time Cricket Cranes are having a jersey unveiled,” skipper Davis Karashani stated. “Such processes build us mentally ahead of the big event and we call on the fans to support us.”Why the change in the colours? “Looking at our team, the youngsters and seniors are blending well,” explained Jeremy Kibuukamusoke, the UCA board member in charge of the national teams. “We wanted to blend in all the national team colours in our jersey as yellow alone wasn’t representing all,” added the kit change architect. Daily Monitor understands that the players and coach Steve Tikolo were also involved in choosing the final look of the jerseys.

Each player received a cap and two sets of jerseys and warm up attire worth $270 (Shs978,000) each made by Galaxy International company from Pakistan. Later, each player received a new bat each worth $400 (Shs1.45m) bought from Australian company Greg Chappell Cricket Centre as well as a pair of shoes valued at $200 (Shs725,000) each from the England. UCA catered for 20 players, three coaches, a physio and team manager.